"At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man - they were an awe inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze - knee to knee and horse to horse - the dying sun glinting on bayonet points..." Trooper Ion Idriess

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During Major-General Hutton’s reconnaissance on tho Zand River the New Zealand troops were posted on a kopje overlooking the river, whilst the New South Wales and Canadian troops were held in reserve on a kopje in the rear.

Some 10,000 Boers, who with six guns were on the northern side of the river preparing to leave with a convoy and a loaded train, returned, and shelled the British and Colonial troops.

Many of tho Boers crossed tho dry bed of the river southward, circled to the right, enfiladed the Western Australian troops with shellfire, and threatened the retreat of the New Zealand troops.

The New South Wales troops moved forward gallantly and held the enemy in check in the face of a galling fire. They covered the retreat of the New Zealanders.

The enemy retired at night, and destroyed the railway bridges and culverts.

The London "Daily Chronicle's'' war correspondent states that Lieutenant General French and Major-General Hutton crossed the Zand River, and are pursuing the enemy cautiously, owing to the damage done to the railway.

The following is a transcription of the War Diary of the 7th Infantry Battalion, AIF, of their role in the landings at Anzac on 25 April 1915.

25 April 1915

HMT Galeka

4.45 am - Arrived at anchorage at 4.45 am in accordance with Divisional Orders. As, however, no tows arrived as provided, Lieutenant Commander Hummerville ordered me to disembark the Battalion in the ship's boats. This greatly disarranged my previous orders as men had been told off to tows in accordance with their capacity of the boats provided which differed from the ships boats and room had to be left for men to row. Moreover, the Officers in charge of the boats were unaware of the landing place. All that I or Lieutenant Commander Hummerville could tell them was that they were to land to the left of the 3rd Infantry Brigade.

Major Glassford was in charge of leading boat vide no men attached.

At 5 am, about 120 men of "B" Company 7th Infantry Battalion which was already drawn up on the SS Galeka were embarked in four of the ships boats and proceeded to row ashore. The naval officer on board gave instructions that we were to land on the left of the 3rd Infantry Brigade and we accordingly made for the vicinity of Fisherman's hut (Square 237 L). We could see the 3rd Infantry Brigade Field Ambulance flag flying about Square 237 W7. When about 200 yards from shore the enemy, who were entrenched on knoll behind Fisherman's Hut and knoll about 500 yards south east opened fire on the boats with machine guns and rifles. We landed and took up a position behind sand heaps at edge of beach the fire being to heavy to advance over the flat leading to the huts. We poured in rapid fire and in about a quarter of an hour threatened to assault when the enemy immediately retired. We occupied their trenches in rear of Fisherman's Hut with the remains of the platoons, numbering about 40 men and held the positions to allow the Field Ambulance; who had sent up bearers, to remove the wounded, which was done as far as possible. Assistance was also received from a trawler which towed away two boats loaded with wounded. Messengers were sent to find Battalion Headquarters with messages stating where we were, what had happened, and our intentions which were to hold hill until wounded were removed and then join battalion unless otherwise ordered. At about 2 pm the enemy advanced on our left: we held on as long as possible and then retired along the beach to point in Square 224 G5, arriving there about 7 pm. The party then reported to Major Glassford who directed them to 3rd Infantry Brigade Headquarters.

Gallipoli Peninsular 4pm - Left HMT Galeka by the 5th boat and landed under shrapnel fire. Could not find the landing officer Major Glassford or Major Villiers Stewart who were to meet us according to Divisional Orders. I therefore reported to Colonel McLagen, Brigadier of the 3rd Infantry Brigade and asked for orders. He instructed me to assemble the Battalion behind the right hand point of the Cove in which we had landed and he would arrange for us to go into action on his right. Major Glassford then arrived and confirmed this. With difficulty owing to shrapnel fire, I assembled about half of "C" Company, the whole of "D" Company, one platoon of "B" Company and the whole of "A" company who landed from HMT Clan McGillivray at our place of assembly under instruction from Major Glassford.

About 9.30 pm was wounded below that ankle joint: remained on field a short time, gave directions for the supplying of ammunition and sent message to Brigadier and to Major Mason of my wound and returned to beach.

The Battalion was then moved over the first ridge and assembled at the foot of a small hillock. From here, under Major Glassford's instructions, two platoons now moved forward to support the 9th Infantry Battalion who were in a ???? ridge in front. At about 2 am Colonel McCay arrived and took over command. He at once ordered the Battalion to advance and on arrival at the spot where the second and third ridge merge into the Plateau 400, he visually ordered me to put the Battalion into the firing line along the front edge of that ridge stating that the 6th Battalion would support me and the 5th Battalion, thus 8 companies. These orders were carried out "D" Company went into action first followed by "A" company as it came up and finally by "C" company and the one platoon of "B" Company available. Major Blizard severely wounded while moving up ridge under front line.

26 April 1915

7th Battalion Headquarters established western slope of Happy Valley. Trying to collect men of the Seventh. Mustered approximately 70. Remainder mixed with other Battalions.

5.15 pm - An advance was ordered in direction of Baby 700. Units became mixed. A line advanced and took up a position which enabled a firing line to be established and then the covering party returned under cover of darkness were subjected to heavy shrapnel and machine gun fire.

The approximate casualties for 25 April 1915 was 400 killed, wounded and missing.

The Battle of Central Station, New South Wales, 14 February 1916, OutlineTopic: BatzA - Liverpool

Australian Battles

The Battle of Central Station, New South Wales, 14 February 1916

Outline

YMCA Tent, Liverpool Camp

The Liverpool Riot of 1916 also known as the Battle of Central Station was an event in Sydney, Australia where a large group of Australian soldiers rioted through the streets of Sydney and surrounding areas.

Following Australia's entry into World War I, many Australian men volunteered to fight in Europe and were stationed in camps around Australia to receive military training before being shipped to the front. At 9.00am on 14 February 1916, at Casula Camp in Liverpool in Sydney's southwest, it was announced that the current training session would be extended into the evening, meaning a 27 hour stretch for some of the recruits. 5,000 recruits refused to accept extra duty and went on strike to protest the poor conditions at the camp. The soldiers left the camp and marched towards the centre of Liverpool, where they were joined by other recruits from around Liverpool and the numbers of protesters now reached as many as 15,000. They invaded a number of local hotels, drinking the bars dry, refusing to pay and began vandalising buildings.

The soldiers then gained control of Liverpool train station, overpowered the engineers and commandeered trains heading towards Sydney, where they began rampaging drunkenly through Sydney streets, smashing windows and targeting anyone with a foreign sounding name, including Italian restaurants, even though Italy was an ally. Shops and hotels were looted and people were forced to take refuge in churches to avoid the soldiers. Police reinforcements were called in and began battling the soldiers in the streets of Sydney.

At Sydney's Central Railway Station, armed military guards found a group of over 100 drunken soldiers destroying a toilet block and demanded they surrender. A shot was fired by a rioting soldier over the guards' heads and in response the guards returned fire, killing one soldier and seriously injuring eight others. This incident had a sobering effect on the soldiers and many began surrendering to police and military guards, although small bands of soldiers continued to cause damage throughout the night.

Following the riot, described as the "most disgraceful episode in our military history", about 1000 soldiers were courtmartialled and either gaoled or discharged from the army. However, Australia was desperate for recruits to fight the war and so many soldiers escaped punishment and were sent overseas while the government, anxious to keep the image of the Australian digger as positive as possible, discouraged the media from covering the event.

As a result of the riots, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania introduced 6.00pm closing of hotels to guard against a repeat occurrence, matching South Australia's introduction the previous year. It was not until 1955 that New South Wales closing was extended to 10pm.

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